Did you know that GERD and acid reflux can significantly impair your quality of sleep, and may even be the cause of serious sleep disorders such as sleep apnea?
As it turns out, 80% of people diagnosed with GERD report having worse symptoms at night, and many of them even wake up due to their symptoms.
As you may know, a lack of quality sleep can lead to total chaos within your body, so it’s important to eliminate any cause of impaired sleep quality.
It’s necessary to watch your diet, eliminate processed, fried, and artificial foods and focus on whole and natural foods to support an overall healthy body. If you remove the junk, you may be surprised to see some of your symptoms begin to disappear.
If you can take control of your symptoms naturally, you will also reduce the risk of symptoms that come along with antacid prescription medications. A slight dietary shift may do just the trick.
With GERD being such a prevalent issue, and something that affects nearly 5-7% of the total population, it is important to discuss how to reduce GERD from occurring in the first place.
Here are 3 tips on how to prevent GERD or reduce its severity:
Tip #1: Take a Look in Your Medicine Cabinet
Believe it or not, certain medications can exacerbate the symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux disease. Certain medications can relax the LES which can actually interfere with the digestive process or even irritate the esophagus. Certain medications such as NSAID’s, and certain antibiotics are notorious for triggering stomach upset, and even GERD.
Tip #2: Eat Smaller Meals
When you overpack your stomach, you put pressure on the LES, making it relax which can trigger GERD. Eating smaller meals is better for your body all around and can certainly help if you frequently suffer from acid reflux or GERD.
Tip #3: Avoid GERD Triggers
There are certain foods that are known to trigger acid reflux and GERD, and it is best to avoid these if you are chronically dealing with reflux. Some of the foods to steer clear from include chocolate, spicy foods, mint, onions, caffeine, citrus and other acidic foods. If you get your health under control, and you are able to calm the GERD and acid reflux, you may be able to enjoy some of these foods in time. However, if you are having a flare up, it is likely best to keep these foods off of your plate for now.
If you are looking to reduce GERD naturally, try this week’s challenge!
For this week’s challenge, I encourage you to focus on foods that soothe the stomach and reduce the chances of GERD. Certain foods are known to help reduce the prevalence of reflux, while others are known to cause it. Here are some foods you may want to consider adding to your diet if this is something you frequently suffer from:
*Please note that not all of these foods will work for everyone. For example, ginger may help some, while it may bother others. Always remember to listen to your body!*
- Oatmeal
- Small amounts of ginger
- Aloe Vera
- Bananas
- Melon
- Fennel
- Roots & Green veggies
- Celery
- Pure unsweetened licorice
- Kefir
Looking for an added challenge? Try this stomach soothing smoothie.
Cooling Green Smoothie
Serves: 1
Ingredients:
- ½ cup of plain unsweetened kefir
- 1 cup of cubed honeydew melon
- ½ cup of seeded, and peeled cucumber
- ¼ inch of freshly grated ginger
- Handful of ice cubes
Directions:
- Place all of the ingredients into a high-speed blender, and blend until smooth.
- Enjoy right away!